


you warm up my heart (when i come undone)

by ediblemomo (junnir)



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 01:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10776378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junnir/pseuds/ediblemomo
Summary: "She prays andpraysthat if there was just one thing that could go right today, it was that her date wouldn’t be able to recognize her if she – or he – did show up in the end." // Six months into their break-up, Momo and Mina have a chance meeting at a café in the middle of winter.





	you warm up my heart (when i come undone)

**Author's Note:**

> so i recently stumbled into the abyss of no return that is twice, and i will give everything and anything to hirai momo.
> 
> apologies if this isn't as good as you expected - i didn't really think this through, and i'm also very, VERY new to twice/momo/mimo. enjoy, though!
> 
> (title from pixie lott's band-aid.)

She lifts up her mug, full to the brim with warm coffee and a pinch of sugar, and gently blows on it. It was dead in the middle of winter, and with both her hands clutching her mug of coffee – her only source of heat, pathetic but still warm nonetheless – she desperately wanted her date to _just get here_ already. Her phone rings mid-sip and she puts down the mug to pick up the call, already expecting the unknown number to be her date asking for a rain check. But when the voice on the other end greets her, the sip of coffee running through her system nearly came right back up.

 

“Hey, is this Momo?”

 

=

 

God, she hated this part.

 

The part where one little reminder opened a box of memories she thought she had locked up and stowed away long ago. For a girl like her who constantly denied that she was anything but over the two-year relationship that ended six months ago, it was everything to her not to be exposed as an ex who’s not over her ex.

 

Today’s reminder was _her ex’s_ voice (cue inward cringe, because six months later she still wasn’t comfortable with the change from girlfriend to ex) coming through the phone in the middle of winter.

 

Just the right season to be reminded of the girl who always felt so warm to the touch, what with the subzero temperatures and less-than-aesthetically-pleasing snowfall outside and the cup of coffee she clung to as her only source of heat. (And a broken heater sitting in the corner of her living room, which she always counted on _her_ to fix, with a kick or two to the faulty machine.)

 

She hated this part to the core, because it’d always take her a while to close that box of memories back up. Until it happens, those memories will creep back on her one by one, untying the knots she tried so desperately to ensure remain tied, as she continued trying to find another girl she could promise to love as much as she did _her_.

 

God, she _really_ hated this part.

 

=

 

“Hello?” … “Sorry, did I get the wrong number?”

 

She realizes a moment too late that she had let the pause go on for a little too long, and she regains composure by clearing her throat and responding. She nods in real life – a bad habit of hers, because _just why_ would she nod while on a phone call? – and responds with a curt affirmation.

 

“Yeah, it’s me.”

 

Almost instantaneously she hears laughter through the phone, a familiar sound – _really familiar_ , she thinks, _damn it, make it stop_ , as memories of her ex laughing on their best days together swam through the mess that was her mind.

 

“I knew it was you,” the laughter trailed off to end on that statement. What a peculiar thing to say, she thinks. She’s about to ask what the girl meant, until she hears the doors to the café open and the bells on the door jingling in a light little melody and it finally hits her.

 

Mina – _her ex_ – is standing by the edge of her table when she looks up. Her realization leads her to the same conclusion that’s right in front of her eyes.

 

Her ex – _Mina_ – was standing right here in front of her.

 

“You nodded before answering me,” Mina says with that smile of hers, almost too bright not to cause a pang of hurt in her chest. “I saw from outside. That’s how I knew it was you.”

 

She had to make herself smile in response before the staring went on for far too long. “Mina, hey,” she greets.

 

 _Mina, hey_ wasn’t exactly the way she told herself to say hi to her ex if she were to ever see her again, but that was the way she just did it. For a quick moment, she cursed herself for even preparing herself at all for the day she was to meet Mina again, when she knew it was all going to go to _shit_ anyway.

 

She told herself to be a _Ugh, thought I would never have to see you again_ kind of ex but in reality she was more of a _God I missed you so much and I’m still in love with you_ kind of ex.

 

“It’s so good to see you again,” Mina says. And she knew Mina meant it. She could hear it in her voice.

 

“You, too,” she replies. She meant it, too.

 

“So, can I take a seat?” Mina’s eyes twinkle beside the warm yellow lights of the café. She doesn’t register the lights though, or at least the only thing she really registers are Mina’s eyes, staring right at her again after the last six months. Again, she lets the silence drag on for far too long, because Mina’s head suddenly cocks to the side and there’s a hint of a pout on her lips as she goes on.

 

“Or… Are you expecting someone?”

 

=

 

Now is the part of the story where Sana is supposed to make a call to her, and in a sheepish and quickened tone explain that the blind date Sana found for her wasn’t going to be able to make it, and a rain check would be perfect if Momo could be oh-so kind enough to take one.

 

But as this morning has proven to her time and again, reality doesn’t work as what you’d expect in a story.

 

So Momo, by reflex, responds to Mina’s question with the only thing she could think of: a lie.

 

A big, fat lie.

 

“No, I’m not expecting anyone.” She gestures to the chair for added measure. “Go ahead.”

 

She prays and _prays_ that if there was just one thing that could go right today, it was that her date wouldn’t be able to recognize her if she – or he – did show up in the end.

 

=

 

“How have you been?” Mina’s never been one to beat around the bush, and she proves it quickly with how she’s already settling into her seat and making conversation not even five minutes after saying hi.

 

“I’ve been… Okay,” lamely came her answer. It sounded better in her head, one of her feeble attempts at looking cool rather than pathetic. It was at this moment when she decided to do away with how much she had prepared herself for the day she would meet Mina again. Because no matter how hard she tried, there was no real way to be ready to come face to face with this girl again.

 

Her eyes dart around the table, desperately searching for something else she could keep her focus on, but out of the corner of her eye she notices Mina studying her in that usual subtle-but-intense way of hers. She makes eye contact with Mina and this cuts her train of thought, and once again Mina flashes that million-dollar smile at her, blinking away her reverie. “That’s good to hear, Momo.”

 

“You?” She asks out of courtesy more than anything. Curiosity had to take a backseat because she wasn’t sure if she could handle hearing Mina talk about the new girl she’s dating. Heck, she honestly didn’t even know if Mina was dating anyone at all.

  
She tamps down the tiny, irrational, selfish part of her that hoped that Mina was as single as she was.

 

“I’ve been great,” was Mina’s answer.

 

She bites back the sigh that could have disrupted the transient peace established between them on this table, because a sigh could mean many things. Like, _oh, so you’re dating someone new, huh? Forgot about me already?_ Or even, _Yeah, good for you. Doing great while I miss you so much I can’t even breathe sometimes._

 

“I found a job at the secondhand bookstore near my place. Pays well, and I’m surrounded by all these vintage books I love. It’s honestly like my dream job,” Mina continues, voice telling of her genuine excitement and joy.

 

“Oh,” was her response. _Oh_ could mean many things too, like _So the best thing that’s happened to you in the last six months is finding a job, not someone new._ Or even _So are you dating now? Why can’t you just be upfront about it?_

 

“Are you still working with Sana at the dance academy?”

 

Mina’s question stirs her out of the whirlpool of thoughts she was drowning in and she reflexively leans forward a little, suddenly ready to steer the conversation in a way she had wanted it to. She swallows, finally having had enough of dancing around the elephant in the room, before finally locking her eyes with Mina’s.

 

“Mina,” she starts, potentially opening a new can of worms she knew she would probably regret opening. She was about to get her answers, by hook or by crook, and all that small talk was just the biggest waste of time. Plus, it was killing her to see how her defenses were only coming apart at the sight of the girl she loved for two long years— _still loved_ after two long years.

 

“Yes?” Mina wasn’t shying away from her forward stance, and with a little rush of blood to the head she recalled the moments in their relationship where Mina was always the one taking the first step. Mina wasn’t afraid, and she had no reason to be afraid too.

 

She willed herself not to think that much, or she’d never get around to saying what was already on the tip of her tongue. After blinking twice, she let the words flow.

 

“We broke up six months ago,” she starts, and oddly enough, the words were flowing more smoothly than she thought they would. “And all this small talk is honestly not _us_ , not what we used to be and certainly not what we are now. No, I don’t know what we are now, but…” She takes a deep breath before going on.

 

“But… I just felt like you should know that I was actually waiting for a blind date to show up.”

 

The silence that followed was deafening – a clichéd expression, but one unbelievably apt for that very moment.

 

Mina sighed.

 

And a sigh could mean many things.

 

=

 

“So,” Mina was the first to start speaking again, and Momo looks up from the table. Her eyes had wandered away from staring right into Mina’s, unable to take the staring contest that went on for far too long after Momo finally laid the bombshell.

 

“Is your date here yet?”

 

Momo blinks twice. “Uh, no…”

 

“Next question,” Mina unflinchingly goes on, not even missing a beat. “Do you want me to go?”

 

This question hit far harder than the first one, and Momo’s breath catches in her throat.

 

She thought back to Mina’s sigh from earlier and wondered what it meant, wondered which possibility it was out of the million and one she conjured. When she lost herself in her thoughts instead of answering Mina’s question, her ex leans forward and advances ahead.

 

“If you want me to go, I’ll go. But if you don’t, then I’d love to sit here and talk to you a little more.” Mina looks away, as if pondering over her own words. She chews on her lower lip, brows furrowed. Momo recognizes the gesture and knew that she was thinking hard, the kind of thinking that happens when she tries to come up with a solution to a problem, as if there was a clock ticking overhead and she had to fix something before it was too late.

 

“What I really mean is…” Mina starts slowly, then trails off. She shakes her head, willing Momo to go on first. “But first, answer me?”

 

This time, Momo thinks she knows what’s coming, but she’s almost too afraid to wish for it.

 

“I don’t,” she answers simply.

 

Mina exhales sharply, perhaps in relief, but Momo was still too afraid to wish for it. “Oh,” was the only thing Mina could say.

 

 _Oh_ could mean a lot of things, too.

 

Still too afraid to wish for anything, Momo could only hazard a guess that she felt had a good chance of being right. “Mina,” she breathes. The girl in question pursed her lips, suddenly feeling so naked and exposed and like she was finally seen through. She hated feeling this vulnerable, Momo knew, but if there was only one person she could be vulnerable in front of, it was none other than Momo.

 

“You’re my date, aren’t you?”

 

=

 

“I’m sorry. This was the only way I could get through to you.” Mina’s voice was quiet; it reflected how small she felt in front of Momo at that very instant. “Please don’t blame Sana for this… I begged her to help me.”

 

Momo knew it wasn’t Mina’s fault. Sure, it had been six months since the day they broke up, but if Mina were to contact Momo and asked her to meet, she knew she would probably say no. Fleeing was her coping mechanism, and the further away she got from Mina, the better.

 

It all fell into place, Sana’s shifty attitude towards the whole blind date set-up and how she kept saying she didn’t have any details about the person she was setting Momo up with. She should’ve guessed Sana would play cupid for the two of them. But she didn’t, because beyond the unlikelihood of Mina wanting to see her again, she was too afraid to hope for it to be Mina.

 

Only now did the situation finally sink in for Momo, and she finally realized that Mina was still waiting for her to say something.

 

“But… Why?” Momo felt the questions bombarding her like bullets from a machine gun. It was giving her a headache, this whole feeling of not knowing _just what the hell_ was going on.

 

“I wanted to see you again,” Mina answered simply.

 

Hearing those words knocked all the wind out of Momo and at that instant, _she_ was the one who felt vulnerable in front of Mina. Luckily for her, Mina was the very person she could be vulnerable in front of. Just not at a café in the middle of winter, with her still-full cup of coffee sitting in between the two of them, who were currently maneuvering their way through a new breakthrough in their relationship.

 

The question marks floating in Momo’s head must have translated well onto her face, because Mina takes a mental cue and continues speaking, as if answering a question Momo never asked.

  
“I broke up with you half a year ago because I was scared. Two years into this relationship, we became an old rhythm; no longer the catchiest melody that made our hearts race and that we couldn’t get out of our heads, but an old rhythm we had become so familiar with and gotten so used to. I was afraid that it was the beginning of the end, that one day you’d get sick and tired of how it’s always going to be, of me.” She inhales, almost feeling out of breath at how much she was unloading in one go.

 

“And you’re not afraid now?” Momo could feel tears threatening to spill forth, but she tamped it down.

 

She wanted to cry, not because anything Mina said had upset her, but because she went from being too afraid to wish for anything to getting exactly what she would’ve wished for, right from the very beginning.

 

“Like hell I’m not,” Mina’s voice cracked, her eyes filling up with tears of her own. “But I figured if Sana said yes to helping me… Then I’d just come find out for myself.” Mina wipes across her eyes, forcing a shaky smile onto her countenance.

 

Momo wipes at her own eyes, a smile curling up her lips. “You’re so silly, Mina,” she laughs a little, feeling all the weight lifting off her shoulders. She could see Mina visibly relax at hearing her laughter. “You already know your answer, don’t you?”

 

Mina laughs along with her. “But it’ll still be nice to hear it from you.”

 

Momo leans across the table, taking Mina’s hands in hers as she looked straight into her eyes.

 

“I’m still in love with you, Myoui Mina,” Momo whispers, “and honestly, I think I always will be.”

 

Mina grins cheekily. “I told you it’ll be nice to hear it from you.” And with that, Mina leans across the table to reach Momo.

 

=

 

God, they loved this part.

 

The part where they kiss to signify the end of their separation, and where familiarity becomes a thing of theirs, and where they could finally fall back into old rhythms.

 

Mina smiles against Momo’s lips before they kiss, and Momo was just thankful Mina still felt this warm to the touch.

 

God, they _really_ loved this part.


End file.
